UA Attracts Top Plant Scientist
Monday January 07, 2002
Vern Lamplot

Rod Wing interviewed by KVOA-TV news

The University of Arizona announced that it will be the new home to a $3-4 million a year genetic research program. Dean Gene Sander of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) said the UA has hired internationally recognized plant scientist Rod A. Wing.


Seed money to attract Wing's program to Arizona came from CALS and Proposition 301 monies, an addition to the state sales tax that Arizona voters approved in an election last year. The UA will receive $15-18 million this year from Prop. 301, which mostly benefits kindergarten through grade 12. "The availability of Proposition 301 funds made our ability to attract a noted researcher of this quality much easier," Sander said.

Contact Information Rod Wing Lab 520.626.9594 or 520.626.9593

Wing is currently director of the Clemson University Genomics Institute, where he researches crop plant genomics, unraveling the genetic codes for corn, rice, soybeans and similar foods.


Wing is moving his laboratory to the UA, where the program is expected to employ 60-70 researchers, graduate students, technicians and support personnel, as well as about 20 undergraduate students.


Wing said he's moving to Arizona because "the UA plant sciences department is one of the top programs in the country. I'm looking forward to being around a fantastic group of colleagues."


Robert Leonard, chair of plant sciences, said Wing will join a distinguished team of more than 25 faculty scientists, many with expertise and research projects in related biotechnology and genetics.


The research focus of Wing's lab is to discover, map and sequence the billions of combinations of genes in beans, rice, tomatoes and similar food crops. Wing's research attracts $3-4 million a year in outside grant funding. Most of that funding comes through the National Science Foundation Plant Genome Program and USDA-CSREES. Wing's team has just received $2.7-million grant from the NIH. Cotton Incorporated has provided substantial support over the years.


Wing's lab will eventually become part of the UA's Biomedical Science and Biotechnology Institute, which will be funded by Proposition 301 monies and federal dollars. The Institute's chief planner, Tom Baldwin, department chair of biochemistry and molecular biophysics, said the institute will include more than 100 UA faculty from various departments with related research interests.